If you have a practice management solution like BetterHQ, there’s a chance you aren’t using it to its full potential. How much do you know about online forms and taking group bookings? Are you making the best use of them in your business?
Any booking-based business will have the need for their clients to fill in forms, sign documents, and add personal and professional details. This is not only extremely important when it comes to client interaction and treatment, but essential to running specific client reports and segmenting your database.
You should also be aware of the ability to create group bookings and list classes online, instead of relying on single client methods. Group bookings are a quick way to fill a class without fiddly individual bookings.
Let’s take a look at your practice management software and see if you’re maximising your solution’s potential and running your business efficiently.
Making the most of Group Bookings
Don’t waste your time collecting and manually grouping individual bookings for classes.
BetterHQ and similar solutions have group and class bookings functions, which means your scheduling needs are covered, regardless of how you offer your services.
For example, if you run classes or tutorials, make sure you’re efficient and professional by enabling online class bookings for your clients using BetterHQ.
BetterHQ in particular supports three types of multi-client or group bookings: ‘Group Bookings’, ‘Class Bookings’ and ‘Multi Bookings’. There are a few key differences between the three.
Let’s have a look.
Group Bookings
Group Bookings are normal bookings that can have more than one client in that booking. You simply add more than one client into the group booking request from the appointment screen. Within BetterHQ, or a similar solution, you can create any ‘appointment’ services as either single or group sales.
Class Bookings
Class Bookings are a type of product/service in BetterHQ and allow clients to book online into every class you offer.
If you run classes like outdoor training, dance or music and you want your clients to book online, this feature is for you.
Multi Bookings
Slightly different from Group Bookings, this feature allows you to add multiple services/timeslots to a single client. This creates cleaner, yet more complex schedules and allows for easier payments.
If you have a requirement to add appointments within appointments, or linked appointments then our Multi Bookings feature is for you.
For example, you may run a beauty parlour and offer different packages such as hair washes and manicures. If a client wants multiple services in a single appointment, this feature is extremely useful to combine these services as a single client booking.
Multi Bookings essentially allows you to add the new appointment/s inside of the existing client appointment so they’re all linked.
Making the most of forms
You can set up a custom online booking form so you can request essential information from your new client when they complete a booking. This means you get to capture all the information you need the first time around, easily.
Not only can you get online signatures for client confirmations using forms, but you can also customise exactly what kind of data you require from each client or group.
The most important aspect of this is understanding what kind of client data will result from your forms and how you’ll then use it.
You can and should add fields like date of birth, interests, class type or any field you want to capture essential information about the client.
But you should not only be capturing data that will be useful as a way of understanding your client’s needs and interests. You should also be doing so for client segmentation, creating quality CRM data and subsequent marketing use.
This takes some ‘looking ahead’. For example, you may want to run a SMS or email campaign targeting certain clients. To do so you’ll need to think ahead for your form data.
If you want to send out information to clients with specific interests, make sure your forms have such a field available. Thinking about your future marketing and reporting is key to good use of online forms.
Here’s the rub – you also don’t want to collect too much info. Making your forms long and laborious will impact client satisfaction and may result in abandoned bookings and forms. So, while you need enough for future CRM use, don’t ask for what you don’t need.